Remote control system for pointing robot

ABSTRACT

There is provided a remote control system including a controlled device and a remote device. The controlled device has a light source and moves according to a control signal from the remote device. The remote device is adapted to be operated by a user and includes an image sensor. The remote device determines a moving direction of the controlled device according to an imaging position of the light source in the image captured by the image sensor and a pointing position of the user, and outputs the control signal.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a divisional application of U.S. applicationSer. No. 15/493,503, filed on Apr. 21, 2017, which is a divisionalapplication of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/217,708, filed on Mar. 18,2014, which claims priority to Taiwanese Application Number 102120456,filed Jun. 7, 2013, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND 1. Field of the Disclosure

This disclosure generally relates to a remote control system and, moreparticularly, to a remote control system for a pointing robot.

2. Description of the Related Art

The conventional remote control system includes, for example, a remotecontrol car and a remote controller. The remote control car can moveaccording to an electric wave signal sent by the remote controller. Theremote control car generally includes a switch configured to activate areceiver so as to allow the remote control car to standby or movestraight at a predetermined velocity. The remote controller includes aplurality of buttons thereon, for example, including a plurality ofdirection keys configured to control moving directions of the remotecontrol car. To improve the pointing accuracy, some remote controllersare disposed with a joystick for replacing the direction keys forproviding more controllable directions. Therefore, users may use thejoystick of the remote controller to control the remote control car toturn to any angle.

However, as the user's visual line is not consistent with the currentmoving direction of a controlled device, the user has to consider thesteering based on the visual line of the controlled device duringoperation. For example, when the user sends a left-turn instructionthrough the remote controller to the remote control car, the user maysee the remote control car turning left if the user's visual line isidentical to the moving direction of the remote control car; on thecontrary, the user may see the remote control car turning right if theuser's visual line is opposite to the moving direction of the remotecontrol car. Therefore, the direction control in the conventional remotecontrol system is not intuitive for the user.

Another remote control system uses a laser guiding beam to replace thecontrol through the above mentioned mechanical buttons. The remotecontrol system includes a controlled device and a remote device. Theremote device is disposed with a laser. The controlled device has acamera configured to capture images of an orientation point of the laserguiding beam and moves toward the orientation point. Compared with theabove mentioned method, this kind of remote device significantlysimplifies the arrangement of buttons and is able to improve user'soperating experience. However, the camera of the controlled device hasto perform a 360-degree panoramic scanning so as to capture the image ofthe laser guiding beam. Meanwhile, as the identifying process can beeasily interfered by ambient light thus the remote control system hasproblems of long response time and low accuracy.

Accordingly, the present disclosure further provides a remote controlsystem that can move the controlled device efficiently and accuratelywithout complicated buttons.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure provides a remote control system including acontrolled device and a remote device. The controlled device has a lightsource and moves according to a control signal from the remote device.The remote device is adapted to be operated by a user and includes animage sensor. The remote device determines a moving direction of thecontrolled device according to an imaging position of the light sourcein an image captured by the image sensor and a pointing position of theuser, and outputs the control signal.

The present disclosure provides a remote control system, and acontrolled device thereof includes a light source emitting light withdifferent characteristics such as different flicker frequencies, lightemitting areas or light emitting shapes corresponding to differentoperating modes. The remote device may identify the operating mode ofthe controlled device according to the different characteristics of thelight source so as to send a control signal, and the control signal mayinclude instructions of an operating mode and a moving direction.

The present disclosure further provides a remote control system, and aremote device thereof only uses a switch (e.g. a mechanical button or acapacitive switch) to generate a control signal. Thus, the controlprocedure can be simplified.

The present disclosure provides a remote control system including acontrolled device and a remote device. The controlled device includes alight source. The remote device includes an image sensor and aprocessor. The image sensor is configured to capture a first image and asecond image containing the light source. The processor is configured tocalculate a current motion vector of the controlled device according toan imaging position of the light source respectively in the first imageand the second image, calculate a pointing vector according to theimaging position of the light source in the second image and a pointingposition, and determine a moving direction of the controlled deviceaccording to the current motion vector and the pointing vector

The present disclosure further provides a remote control systemincluding a controlled device and a remote device. The controlled deviceincludes a first light source and a second light source. The remotedevice includes an image sensor and a processor. The image sensor isconfigured to capture an image containing the first light source and thesecond light source. The processor is configured to calculate a currentmoving direction of the controlled device according to imaging positionsof the first light source and the second light source in the image,calculate a pointing vector according to the imaging position of thefirst light source or the second light source in the image and apointing position, and determine a moving direction of the controlleddevice according to the current moving direction, the pointing vectorand the imaging position of the first light source or the second lightsource.

The present disclosure further provides a remote control systemincluding a controlled device and a remote device. The controlled deviceincludes a light source having a predetermined pattern. The remotedevice includes an image sensor and a processor. The image sensor isconfigured to capture an image containing the predetermined pattern. Theprocessor is configured to identify a current moving direction of thecontrolled device according to the predetermined pattern in the image,calculate a pointing vector according to an imaging position of thelight source in the image and a pointing position, and determine aturning angle of the controlled device according to the current movingdirection, the pointing vector and the imaging position.

In one embodiment, the controlled device further includes a receiver andthe remote device further includes a transmitter. The processor sendsthe moving direction, turning angle or mode instruction to the receiverthrough the transmitter. The transmitter may perform the datatransmission by infrared light or a radio wave.

In one embodiment, the light source may emit light constantly withoutthe flicker or emit light at a flicker frequency. The controlled devicemay be a cleaning robot having at least one operating mode correspondingto the flicker frequency of the light source, wherein the operating modemay include a moving velocity and/or an operating strength.

In one embodiment, the processor may further determine a movingvelocity, a travel distance and/or a destination of the controlleddevice according to a magnitude of the current motion vector and/or thepointing vector.

The remote control system for the pointing robot according to theembodiment of the present disclosure may determine a turning angle, amoving direction and/or a travel distance of the controlled deviceaccording to light source images of the controlled device through vectoroperations. Accordingly, a user can control motions of the controlleddevice more intuitively.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the present disclosurewill become more apparent from the following detailed description whentaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a remote control system according tothe first embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of a two dimensional space formed byimages captured by the image sensor according to the first embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of a remote control system according tothe second embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic diagram of the image captured by the imagesensor according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic diagram of a remote control system according tothe third embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic diagram of the image captured by the imagesensor according to the third embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT

It should be noted that, wherever possible, the same reference numberswill be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.

In the following descriptions, a remote control device of the presentdisclosure is described with embodiments in which an image sensor isused to replace the conventional laser guiding beam. However, theembodiment of the present disclosure is not limited to any particularenvironment, application or implementation. Therefore, the followingdescriptions of embodiments are for purpose of illustration only. It isunderstood that elements indirectly related to the present disclosureare omitted and not shown in the following embodiments and drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a remote control system 1 accordingto the first embodiment of the present disclosure, for example theremote control system for a pointing robot. The remote control system 1includes a controlled device 10 and a remote device 20. A user maycontrol the controlled device 10 though the remote device 20, forexample controlling a moving direction, a moving velocity, a traveldistance, a turning angle and/or an operating strength of the controlleddevice 10.

The controlled device 10 has a light source 12 and a receiver 14. Thelight source 12 may emit light with an adjustable flicker frequency orlight on constantly without the flicker to be served as a referencepoint for detecting positions of the controlled device 10. The receiver14 is configured to perform one-way or two-way communication with theremote device 20. It should be mentioned that the position of the lightsource 12 of the controlled device 10 shown in FIG. 1 is not used tolimit the present disclosure. In the present embodiment, the controlleddevice 10 may be a pointing robot capable of performing predeterminedfunctions, such as a cleaning robot, but not limited to. The controlleddevice 10 may be any device whose function is controlled by using theremote device.

The remote device 20 includes an image sensor 25, a transmitter 27 and aprocessor 29, wherein the processor 29 is electrically connected withthe image sensor 25 and the transmitter 27. In one embodiment, theremote device 20 may further include at least one switch (not shown) forbeing operated by the user, and the switch may be a mechanical switch ora capacitive switch configured to activate the image sensor 25 tocapture images and activate the transmitter 27 to send a control signalS_(C).

In the present embodiment, the image sensor 25 is preferably located ata front end of the remote device 20, and thus when the remote device 20is for handheld use by the user, the pointing direction thereof issubstantially at the extension direction of the user's arm. The imagesensor 25 captures images with a predetermined visual angle V and isconfigured to capture the images covering the light source 12 of thecontrolled device 10. The processor 29 performs vector operationsaccording to a two dimensional space formed by the images. For example,FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of a two-dimensional (2D) space 2DSformed by images captured by the image sensor 25.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, it is assumed that the image sensor 25captures a first image F₁ containing the light source 12 and having animage center C₁ (e.g. a pointing position of a user) at a time T₁; andthen the processor 29 may identify a light source image I₁₂ of the lightsource 12 in the first image F₁ and map the first image F₁ to a twodimensional coordinate system such as a polar coordinate system or aCartesian coordinate system. At this time, the image center C₁ of thefirst image F₁ corresponds to a 2D space center P_(C), and a position ofthe light source image I₁₂ in the first image F₁ is recorded as a firstimaging position P₁. Similarly, assuming at a time T₂, the image sensor25 captures a second image F₂ containing the light source 12′ and havingan image center C₂ (e.g. a pointing position of a user); and then theprocessor 29 may identify a light source image I₁₂′ of the light source12′ in the second image F₂ and map the second image F₂ to the twodimensional coordinate system. At this time, the image center C₂ of thesecond image F₂ corresponds to the 2D space center P_(C), and a positionof the light source image I₁₂′ in the second image F₂ is recorded as asecond imaging position P₂. It should be mentioned that the firstimaging position P₁ and the second imaging position P₂ may be a centerposition, a gravity center position or other predetermined positions inan object image formed by the light source respectively, as long as thesame definition is applied.

It should be mentioned that reference numerals 12 and 12′ in FIG. 1 areonly configured to represent a single light source at different timesrather than different light sources. Similarly, reference numerals 10and 10′ and reference numerals 14 and 14′ are only configured torepresent a single device at different times rather than differentdevices.

In the present embodiment, the processor 29 uses the space transform totransfer the first image F₁ and the second image F₂ to the same 2D spacethereby performing vector operations. In one embodiment, the secondimage F₂ may be transferred to a 2D space formed by the first image F₁.In another embodiment, the first image F₁ may be transferred to a 2Dspace formed by the second image F₂. In another embodiment, both thefirst image F₁ and the second image F₂ may be transferred to another 2Dspace respectively thereby performing the followed vector operations.For example, when the vector operation is performed using the 2D spaceformed by the first image F₁, the image center C₁ may be served as the2D space center P_(C); when the vector operation is performed using the2D space formed by the second image F₂, the image center C₂ may beserved as the 2D space center P_(C); and when a 2D space not beingformed by the first image F₁ and the second image F₂ is used, the imagecenters C₁ and C₂ may be mapped to the 2D space center P_(C), wherein aneasy way is to overlap the first image F₁ with the second image F₂directly and identify the followed vector variations of the firstimaging position P₁ and the second imaging position P₂.

Therefore, the processor 29 may obtain a current moving vector {rightarrow over (P₁P₂)} according to the first imaging position P₁ and thesecond imaging position P₂ in the 2D space 2DS, obtain a pointing vector{right arrow over (P₂P_(C))} according to the second imaging position P₂and the 2D space center P_(C) in the 2D space 2DS, and then determine amoving direction, e.g. the direction toward the 2D space center P_(C)shown in FIG. 2, or a turning angle θ of the controlled device 10through vector operations according to the current moving vector {rightarrow over (P₁P₂)}, the pointing vector {right arrow over (P₂P_(C))} andthe second imaging position P₂.

In the present embodiment, the transmitter 27 may send the movingdirection by infrared light or a radio wave (e.g. Bluetooth) to thereceiver 14. It is appreciated that FIGS. 1 and 2 only exemplarily showa shape of the visual angle V and the relative position between thelight source 12, the receiver 14, the transmitter 27 and the imagesensor 27, wherein the shape and size of the visual angle V may bedetermined according to the capturing angle and distance of the imagesensor 25. Preferably, the processor 29 is able to transfer the imagecaptured by the image sensor 25 to a quadrilateral-shaped orsquare-shaped 2D space for performing vector operations easily.

In one embodiment, if the processor 29 has the function of identifyingcolor-levels or colors, the light source 12 of the controlled device 10may be arranged to emit light with different brightness or colors tocorrespond to different operating modes of the controlled device 10. Forexample, the controlled device 10 works with a predetermined velocityand strength under a normal mode; the controlled device 10 works with avelocity and strength smaller than the predetermined one under a quietmode; and the controlled device 10 works with a velocity and strengthlarger than the predetermined one under an enhanced mode. It should bementioned that each mode described herein may be preset according tofunctions performed by the controlled device 10 before the shipment, butnot limited to those described herein. Accordingly, in determining themoving direction of the controlled device 10, the processor 29 may alsodetermine whether to change an operating mode of the controlled device10 at the same time. Furthermore, the moving direction and the operatingmode may be determined separately, and the number of the operating modesmay be determined according to different applications.

In one embodiment, the light source 12 of the controlled device 10 maybe arranged to flicker at different frequencies to correspond todifferent operating modes of the controlled device 10. The processor 29may determine the moving direction according to the first image F₁ andthe second image F₂, and further identify a current operating mode ofthe controlled device 10 according to a plurality of images. Therefore,every time when the image sensor 25 is activated (e.g. by pressing aswitch), a plurality of images may be captured successively by the imagesensor 25 but the captured image number is not limited to two. Inaddition, the first image F₁ and the second image F₂ are not limited totwo adjacent images but two images separated by one or more than oneimages of a plurality of images captured successively. In the presentembodiment, the light source 12 may be arranged to emit light atdifferent flicker frequencies to correspond to different operating modes(e.g. the normal mode, quiet mode or enhanced mode) of the controlleddevice 10. When determining the moving direction of the controlleddevice 10, the processor 29 may also identify the flicker frequencyaccording the plurality of images captured so as to determine whether tochange an operating mode of the controlled device 10. Besides, if thecontrolled device 10 is set to be operated under the quiet mode, thecontrolled device 10 or the processor 29 may ignore any mode changinginstruction.

In one embodiment, the processor 29 may further determine a movingvelocity and/or a travel distance of the controlled device 10 accordingto the magnitude of at least one of the current moving vector {rightarrow over (P₁P₂)} and the pointing vector {right arrow over (P₂P_(C))}.For example, when the magnitude (i.e. norm) of the pointing vector{right arrow over (P₂P_(C))} is larger than or smaller than a threshold,a control signal S_(C) sent by the processor 29 may include the movingdirection and mode changing information simultaneously, wherein thethreshold may be a fixed value or determined according to a multiple ofthe magnitude of the current moving vector {right arrow over (P₁P₂)}. Inaddition, a plurality of thresholds may be included according to thenumber of changeable modes. The processor 29 may further determinewhether the magnitude of the current moving vector {right arrow over(P₁P₂)} matches the setting of the user to accordingly determine themode change, or may directly control the moving velocity of thecontrolled device 10.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of a remote control system 2 accordingto the second embodiment of the present disclosure, and the system maybe a remote control system for a pointing robot and include a controlleddevice 10 and a remote device 20 as well. Similarly, a user may controlthe controlled device 10 through the remote device 20, e.g. controllingan operating mode, a moving direction, a turning angle, a movingvelocity, a travel distance and/or an operating strength.

The controlled device 10 has a first light source 121, a second lightsource 122 and a receiver 14, and moves in a predetermined movingdirection {right arrow over (D)} (e.g. ahead of the controlled device10). The first light source 121 and the second light source 122 havedifferent characteristics (described later) so as to be distinguished bythe remote device 20. The receiver 14 is configured to perform one-wayor two-way communication with the remote device 20. It should bementioned that the positions of the first light source 121 and thesecond light source 122 of the controlled device 10 shown in FIG. 3 arenot used to limit the present disclosure. As described in the firstembodiment, the controlled device 10 may be a pointing robot forperforming predetermined functions.

The remote device 20 includes an image sensor 25, a transmitter 27 and aprocessor 29, wherein the processor 29 is electrically connected withthe image sensor 25 and the transmitter 27. As described in the firstembodiment, the remote device 20 may further include at least one switch(not shown).

In the present embodiment, since the processor 29 identifies a movingdirection of the controlled device 10 according to an image, whichcovers the first light source 121 and the second light source 122 of thecontrolled device 10, captured by the image sensor 25, the processor 29may perform the vector operation directly using a 2D space formed by theimage. The present embodiment directly uses the image captured by theimage sensor 25 to describe vector operations. For example, FIG. 4 showsa schematic diagram of an image F captured by the image sensor 25. It isappreciated that when the image F is not a rectangle due to thecapturing angle of the image sensor 25, the image F can be transferredto a rectangular 2D space using space transform for performing vectoroperations easily.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the image sensor 25 captures an image Fcontaining the first light source 121 and the second light source 122.The processor 29 identifies the first light source 121 and the secondlight source 122 recorded as a first imaging position P₁₂₁ and a secondimaging position P₁₂₂, as shown in FIG. 4, and the image F has an imagecenter P. It should be mentioned that the first imaging position P₁₂₁and the second imaging position P₁₂₂ may be the center position, gravitycenter position or other predetermined positions of an object imagerespectively, as long as the same definition is applied.

Therefore, the processor 29 may obtain a current moving direction {rightarrow over (P₁₂₁P₁₂₂)} of the controlled device 10 according to thefirst imaging position P₁₂₁ and the second imaging position P₁₂₂ in theimage F; and herein it is assumed that the current moving direction{right arrow over (P₁₂₁P₁₂₂)} and the predetermined moving direction{right arrow over (D)} are identical (i.e. {right arrow over(P₁₂₁P₁₂₂)}={right arrow over (D)}). The processor 25 may determine thepredetermined moving direction D of the controlled device 10 accordingto the current moving direction {right arrow over (P₁₂₁P₁₂₂)}.Meanwhile, the processor 29 obtains a pointing vector {right arrow over(P₁₂₂P)} according to the image center P and the second imaging positionP₁₂₂ in the image F. Accordingly, a moving direction or a turning angleθ of the controlled device 10 may be determined through vectoroperations according to the current moving direction {right arrow over(P₁₂₁P₁₂₂)}, the pointing vector {right arrow over (P₁₂₂P)} and theimaging position P₁₂₂, as shown in FIG. 4. The difference between thepresent embodiment and the first embodiment is that the first embodimentis able to identify the current moving direction of the controlleddevice 10 according to a position variation of the light source of thecontrolled device 10 in two images, whereas the processor 29 in thesecond embodiment identifies the current moving direction of thecontrolled device 10 according to two light sources in the same image.Other parts of the second embodiment are similar to those of the firstembodiment, and thus details thereof are not described herein.

It should be mentioned that the current moving direction {right arrowover (P₁₂₁P₁₂₂)} and the predetermined moving direction {right arrowover (D)} are exemplarily set as the same direction (i.e. {right arrowover (P₁₂₁P₁₂₂)}={right arrow over (D)}). In other embodiments, thecurrent moving direction {right arrow over (P₁₂₁P₁₂₂)} and thepredetermined moving direction {right arrow over (D)} may be differentdirections as long as they are preset before the shipment andtransferred by the processor 29. In the present embodiment, as long as arelative position between the first light source 121 and the secondlight source 122 can be identified, it is able to identify the currentmoving direction {right arrow over (P₁₂₁P₁₂₂)}.

In addition, the present embodiment only exemplarily shows the pointingvector {right arrow over (P₁₂₂P)} and a start point of the predeterminedmoving direction {right arrow over (D)} being the second imagingposition P₁₂₂. In another embodiment, the pointing vector may be {rightarrow over (P₁₂₁P)} and meanwhile the start point of the predeterminedmoving direction {right arrow over (D)} may the first imaging positionP₁₂₁.

In the present embodiment, the first light source 121 and the secondlight source 122 of the controlled device 10 have differentcharacteristics such as different brightness, colors, areas or shapes.For example, it is assumed that the processor 29 has the function ofidentifying color-levels or colors, that the first light source 121 iscomposed of three LEDs and the light source 122 is composed of one LED,and that the brightness of the LEDs are the same. The processor 29 mayidentify positions of the first light source 121 and the second lightsource 122 using the function of identifying color-levels. Accordingly,the processor 29 may identify the relative position between the firstlight source 121 and the second light source 122 according to the abovementioned characteristics of the light sources thereby obtaining thecurrent moving direction {right arrow over (P₁₂₁P₁₂₂)} of the controlleddevice 10.

In addition, combinations of different brightness or colors of the firstlight source 121 and the second light source 122 may correspond todifferent operating modes of the controlled device 10 (e.g. the normalmode, the quiet mode and the enhanced mode). Accordingly, in determiningthe moving direction of the controlled device 10, the processor 29 mayalso determine whether to change an operating mode of the controlleddevice 10.

As described in the first embodiment, the first light source 121 and thesecond light source 122 may be arranged to emit light at differentflicker frequencies as well so as to correspond to different operatingmodes (e.g. the normal mode, the quiet mode and the enhanced mode) ofthe controlled device 10 or for distinguishing different light sources.Thus, in determining the moving direction of the controlled device 10,the processor 29 also determines whether to change an operating mode ofthe controlled device 10.

As described in the first embodiment, the processor 29 may furtherdetermine a moving velocity and/or a travel distance of the controlleddevice 10 according to the magnitude of the pointing vector {right arrowover (P₁₂₂P)}. For example, the processor 29 may determine whether tochange operating modes according to a result of the comparison betweenthe pointing vector {right arrow over (P₁₂₂P)} and at least onethreshold. Since the determination method is similar to that of thefirst embodiment, details thereof are not described herein.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic diagram of a remote control system 3 accordingto the third embodiment of the present disclosure, and the system may bea remote control system for a pointing robot and include a controlleddevice 10 and a remote device 20 as well. Similarly, a user can controlthe controlled device 10 through the remote device 20, e.g. controllingan operating mode, a moving direction, a turning angle, a movingvelocity, a travel distance and/or an operating strength of thecontrolled device 10.

The controlled device 10 has a light source 12 and a receiver 14 andmoves in a predetermined moving direction {right arrow over (D)},wherein the light source 12 has a predetermined pattern configured tocorrespond to the predetermined moving direction {right arrow over (D)}(e.g. an arrow pattern pointing toward the predetermined movingdirection {right arrow over (D)} as shown in FIG. 5). The light source12 emits light with an adjustable flicker frequency or lights oncontinually to be served as a reference point for detecting positions ofthe controlled device 10. The receiver 14 is configured to perform theone-way or two-way communication with the remote device 20. It should bementioned that the position of the light source 12 of the controlleddevice 10 shown in FIG. 5 is not used to limit the present disclosure.As mentioned in the first embodiment, the controlled device 10 may be apointing robot for performing predetermined functions.

The remote device 20 includes an image sensor 25, a transmitter 27 and aprocessor 29, wherein the processor 29 is electrically connected withthe image sensor 25 and the transmitter 27. As described in the firstembodiment, the remote device 20 may further include at least one switch(not shown).

In the present embodiment, since the processor 29 determines a movingdirection or a turning angle of the controlled device 10 according to animage covering the light source 12 of the controlled device 10 capturedby the image sensor 25, the processor 29 may directly perform vectoroperations using a 2D space formed by the image. The present embodimentdirectly uses the image captured by the image sensor 25 to describevector operations. For example, FIG. 6 shows a schematic diagram of animage F captured by the image sensor 25. It is appreciated that when theimage F is not a rectangle due to the capturing angle of the imagesensor 25, the image F can be transferred to a rectangular 2D spaceusing space transform for performing vector operations.

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, the image sensor 25 captures an image Fcontaining the light source 12, and then the processor 29 identifies thelight source 12 to be recorded as an imaging position P₁₂ and an imagecenter P, as shown in FIG. 6. Meanwhile, the processor 29 alsodetermines the shape of the predetermined pattern of the light source12. It should be mentioned that the imaging position P₁₂ may be a centerposition, a gravity center position or other predetermined positions ofthe object image (i.e. the light source image). For example, the imagingposition P₁₂ in the present embodiment is defined as the center positionof the predetermined pattern.

Therefore, the processor 29 may obtain the predetermined movingdirection {right arrow over (D)} of the controlled device 10 accordingto the imaging position P₁₂ and the shape of the predetermined patternin the image F. For example, the shape of the predetermined pattern isan arrow and it is assumed that the pointing direction of the arrow isidentical to the predetermined moving direction {right arrow over (D)},as shown in FIG. 5. The processor 29 may determine the predeterminedmoving direction {right arrow over (D)} of the controlled device 10according to the predetermined pattern to be served as a current movingdirection. Meanwhile, the processor 29 obtains a pointing vector {rightarrow over (P₁₂P)} according to the image center P in the image F, andthen determines a turning angle θ or a moving direction through vectoroperations according to the current moving direction, the pointingvector {right arrow over (P₁₂P)} and the imaging position P₁₂, as shownin FIG. 6. The difference between the present embodiment and the firstembodiment is that the first embodiment is able to identify the currentmoving direction of the controlled device 10 according to a positionvariation of the light source of the controlled device 10 in two images,whereas the processor 29 in the third embodiment identifies the currentmoving direction of the controlled device 10 according to the shape ofthe light source 12. Other parts of the third embodiment are similar tothose of the first embodiment, and thus details thereof are notdescribed herein.

It should be mentioned that the shape of the predetermined pattern isonly exemplarily shown as the arrow herein; but in other embodiments,the shape of the predetermined pattern may be a triangle, a pentagon orother asymmetric patterns as long as the shape can be identified by theprocessor 29 and associated with the predetermined moving direction{right arrow over (D)}. That is to say, as long as the processor 29 isable to identify the shape of the light source, the current movingdirection (i.e. the predetermined moving direction {right arrow over(D)}) can also be identified.

In the present embodiment, since the processor 29 has the function ofidentifying shape patterns, the predetermined pattern of the lightsource 12 may also be formed by arranging a plurality of LEDs and a partof the LEDs is controlled to emit light to form different patternscorresponding to different operating modes (e.g. the normal mode, thequiet mode and the enhanced mode). Thus, in determining the movingdirection of the controlled device 10, the processor 29 also determineswhether to change an operating mode of the controlled device 10.

In another embodiment, if the processor 29 has the function ofidentifying color-levels or colors, the light source 12 of thecontrolled device 10 may be arranged to emit with different brightnessor colors to correspond to different operating modes (e.g. the normalmode, the quiet mode or the enhanced mode) of the controlled device 10.Thus, in determining the moving direction of the controlled device 10,the processor 29 also determines whether to change an operating mode ofthe controlled device 10. Meanwhile, the light source 12 may emit lightwith different brightness or colors continuously to represent thecurrent operating mode.

As mentioned in the first embodiment, the light source 12 may also emitlight at different flicker frequencies to correspond to differentoperating modes (e.g. the normal mode, the quiet mode and the enhancedmode) of the controlled device 10. Thus, in determining the movingdirection of the controlled device 10, the processor 29 also determineswhether to change an operating mode of the controlled device 10.

As described in the first embodiment, the processor 29 furtherdetermines a moving velocity and/or a travel distance of the controlleddevice 10 according to the magnitude of the pointing vector {right arrowover (P₁₂P)}. For example, the processor 29 may determine whether tochange operating modes according to a result of the comparison betweenthe pointing vector {right arrow over (P₁₂P)} and at least onethreshold. Since the determination method is similar to the firstembodiment, details thereof are not described herein.

In the above embodiments, the remote device 20 is preferably a hand-heldremote device. In other embodiments, the remote device 20 may also be aportable electronic device, such as a smart phone having the function ofinfrared light or Bluetooth, wherein the camera function of the smartphone may correspond to the function of the image sensor 25 of thepresent disclosure.

The visual field of the image sensor 25 in the above embodimentspreferably covers the whole controlled device 10 to ensure all the lightsources are captured by the image sensor 25. The image sensor 25 may bea complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor or acharge-coupled device (CCD).

In one embodiment, the image sensor 25 in the above embodiments may bedivided into a plurality of sub-regions according to the coordinatesystem applied by the processor 29. Taking a Cartesian coordinate systemfor example and referring to FIG. 2, it shows a schematic diagram of amatrix of the operation area divided into a plurality of sub-regions.That is to say, position information of at least one light point in theimage may be retrieved from a lookup table, and the lookup table isformed by dividing the visual field of the image sensor into the matrixof the plurality of sub-regions.

The above light sources may be any conventional light sources such as alight-emitting diode (LED), a laser diode (LD) or other active lightsources, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example,it is able to use a translucent cover to expose the light emitted by anactive light source thereby defining the shape of the light source. Ifan infrared light source is applied, it may avoid influencing the visualof users.

In the description of the present disclosure, a pointing position may bedefined as an image center, and the pointing position may be mapped to acenter of a 2D space when the image is mapped to the 2D space to performvector operations. However, the pointing position may be defined asother predetermined positions in a captured image according to differentapplications, such as a corner of the captured image; and the pointingposition may be mapped to a corresponding position in a 2D space whenthe image is mapped to the 2D space to perform vector operations.

As mentioned above, the conventional remote control system incorporatinga plurality of buttons or a laser guiding beam to implement operationshas problems of low accuracy and long response time respectively.Therefore, the present disclosure further provides a remote controlsystem for a pointing robot that may determine a turning angle, a movingdirection, a moving destination and/or a travel distance of thecontrolled device according to the light source image(s) of thecontrolled device by using the vector operation. Accordingly, a user cancontrol motions of the controlled device more intuitively.

Although the disclosure has been explained in relation to its preferredembodiment, it is not used to limit the disclosure. It is to beunderstood that many other possible modifications and variations can bemade by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit andscope of the disclosure as hereinafter claimed.

What is claimed is:
 1. A remote device, configured to control acontrolled vehicle device, the remote device comprising: an image sensorconfigured to capture an object image of the controlled vehicle device,wherein the captured object image contains a pattern formed on thecontrolled vehicle device; and a processor configured to determine amoving direction of the controlled vehicle device according to anorientation of the captured object image and an imaging position of thecaptured object image.
 2. The remote device as claimed in claim 1,wherein the pattern is an arrow pattern, a triangle pattern or apentagon pattern.
 3. The remote device as claimed in claim 2, whereinthe processor is configured to identify a shape of the pattern todetermine the orientation of the captured object image.
 4. The remotedevice as claimed in claim 1, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to identify different patterns to determine an operating modeof the controlled vehicle device.
 5. The remote device as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to identifydifferent brightness of the pattern to determine an operating mode ofthe controlled vehicle device.
 6. The remote device as claimed in claim1, wherein the processor is further configured to identify differentcolors of the pattern to determine an operating mode of the controlledvehicle device.
 7. The remote device as claimed in claim 1, wherein theprocessor is further configured to identify different flickerfrequencies of the pattern to determine an operating mode of thecontrolled vehicle device.
 8. The remote device as claimed in claim 1,wherein the processor is further configured to determine a turning angleof the controlled vehicle device according to the determined movingdirection, the imaging position of the captured object image and acenter of an image, which contains the object image, captured by theimage sensor.
 9. The remote device as claimed in claim 1, wherein theimaging position of the captured object image is a center position or agravity center position of the captured object image.
 10. The remotedevice as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pattern is formed by at leastone light source on the controlled vehicle device.